The SS - Hitle's Instrument of Terror

Despite the fact that by the end of World War II the SS was a truly vast organisation, with branches that seemed to reach into almost every sphere of German life, and could boast a field Army of some of the most effective troops the world has ever seen, its beginnings were far from impressive. In its formative years, this most elite of the Nazi formations had been subordinated to, and often humiliatingly treated by, the common street louts of the Sturmabteilung (SA), the Party's Storm Troops. To fully appreciate how the dreaded Schutz Staffel (SS), Protection Squad, came about, as well as its conflict with the SA, it is necessary to go back in time to the years immediately preceding the outbreak of World War I and briefly consider the political situation then prevailing. By 1914, the Social Democratic Party in Germany was one of the largest political parties in Europe. However, although Germany had a parliament of elected members, it was in reality far from being a parliamentary democracy. The German Reichstag, in which the Social Democratic Party formed a considerable majority, had neither the power nor the influence to overrule the wishes of the Kaiser and his military staff, who ruled very much as they wished.

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Tiger Tank - Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger I Ausf.E

My first encounter with the German Tiger I was on 21 April, 1943, when, as a young commander of a Churchill tank troop in A Squadron, 48th Battalion Royal Tank Regiment, I was one of two troop leaders leading a counter-attack against a German defensive position in two hills near Medjez-el-Bab, Tunisia. This was the Battalion's first action since landing in North Africa and was part of the First and Eighth Armies' final push to clear Tunisia of Axis troops and to take Tunis. We had, of course, heard mention of the Tiger, but very little had penetrated down the food chain to troop leader level; about the dreaded '88' gun, however, we had not only heard a lot but had also seen its effect on the Churchill tank when we arrived at the railhead and saw the stacked hulks of the tanks from 25 Army Tank Brigade with large holes punched through even their thickest armour. As we advanced towards our objectives we could see no sign of enemy, but suddenly my fellow troop leader's tank erupted in an enormous explosion, blowing the turret crew out of the turret and setting the tank on fire. Before I had time to locate the source of this shot my own tank was hit by an 8.8cm shot which passed through the front plate right down the length of the tank and into the engine, setting it on fire. I and my crew were luckier than my colleague's as we all managed to bail out with only minor injuries.

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Walkaround 20 - Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle Orbiter realizes the dream of a reusable manned spacecraft, whose origins date back to the rocket aircraft tested from the late 1940s to the late 1960s. These aircraft began with the Bell X-l (originally XS-1), which made the first supersonic flight on 14 October 1947. Bell's X-2 was the first to reach iMach 3 on 27 September 1956. The rocket aircraft program reached its climax with the North American X-l5, the first winged aircraft to fly into space and land on a runway. In an 11-minute flight on 22 August 1963. the X-l5 reached an altitude of 354.200 feet (107.960 m) and achieved a speed of 3794 mph (6105.7 kmh) — Mach 5.58. Despite the X-l5 s success, expendable rockets carrying non-aerodynamic spacecraft were the choice of both the Americans and the Soviets during the race to the Moon in the 1960s. The Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar (Dynamic Soaring) was an early attempt to develop a reusable aerospace aircraft, although this was to be launched by an expendable rocket. The X-20 was cancelled during 1963 after four years of development.

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